


Questions and Answers

by Fantasyenabler



Category: Marvel, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: 1000-5000 Words, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-11
Updated: 2010-03-11
Packaged: 2017-10-07 21:36:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/69472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fantasyenabler/pseuds/Fantasyenabler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What category of "hero" is acceptable for dating?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Questions and Answers

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the [](http://community.livejournal.com/frozen_breaths/profile)[](http://community.livejournal.com/frozen_breaths/)**frozen_breaths** "Character Trait in Multimedia" challenge, for which I chose "More ordinary than most superheroes" as a primary and "adorable" as a secondary. As such, it's not a part of any series and is set outside the current canon continuity.

The Blackbird sped across the night sky, passing over state borders too quickly for Sam to even begin to guess what cities or peoples they might be flying by. He knew where they were coming from—a battle off the California coast with some aggravating Acolytes—and he knew where they were going—home, or at least what passed for it these days in Westchester—but not what course Scott had them traveling in the meantime. That bothered him, he realized, that not knowing, more than it had any of the other countless trips before this. It bothered him, and it bothered him so much that he actually considered getting up and asking where they were.

He didn't though.

Instead, he put the question away for later and turned his attention towards something that might be more readily answered.

For instance, was that really a _woman's_ magazine Bobby was flipping through in the seat next to him? Granted, Sam hadn't seen too many of them in his life, but he seriously doubted a _Sports Illustrated_ would feature so many perfume ads.

He doubted it anyway. It wasn't like he'd had much of an opportunity to read one of those lately either.

"Bobby…" he began to ask.

"I found it under the seat," Bobby said, not even looking up from where he was turning page after page. "I'm guessing it must belong to Kitty, or Rogue, or maybe one of the X-babies." The page turning halted in mid-flip as Bobby smirked across the aisle at someone Sam couldn't quite make out in the darkened compartment. "Or maybe it's Logan's. I can see him wanting to get in touch with his feminine side."

The "snikt" sound of what Sam guessed was probably a middle claw popping out was all the answer Logan deigned to give.

Bobby grinned as he went back to flipping. "Yeah, definitely in need of some sort of mental adjustment."

Sam thought he might be too, considering that he was watching his lover use a magazine to bait one of the most dangerous men they knew, and all he could think about was how blue Bobby's eyes were right now. Actually, he'd been noticing that ever since they'd left California. It was a large part of why he'd been looking out the window in the first place.

He shifted in his seat, taking the opportunity to raise the armrest and lean in against Bobby's side. "Is there anything in there worth reading?" he asked as he pretended to be looking over Bobby's shoulder.

Bobby shook his head. "No," he said. "Not unless you want to know what handbags are in this year." He paused, and Sam caught a glimpse of a red-printed headline that read, "Ten Ways to Make Him Happy."

"Huh," Bobby said.

The pause lingered long enough for Sam to try to scan the first few sentences of the article, but Bobby was soon flipping on again. Muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "Wrong equipment" as he did.

Sam was pondering getting up the nerve to ask when Bobby paused once more.

"Huh," he said again, lifting the magazine so he could get a better look at it in the dim light. He turned towards Sam, his uniform jacket moving and falling back in such a way that Sam's hand brushed against the bare torso underneath. "We need a pen," he said.

_We need a what?_ parts of Sam's brain asked while others concentrated on where his fingers lay on Bobby's skin. He managed to ignore all of them and say, "I don't really carry writing utensils around in my costume."

"Too bad," Bobby said, sliding closer and placing the magazine across both of their laps. "Ah, well. I guess I can mark the answers with pieces of ice as we go along."

"Answers?" Sam asked, moving his hand so it was no longer stuck between Bobby's body and the seat. He rested it along Bobby's thigh before squinting down at the magazine and lifting it up so he could see better.

Sam narrowed his eyes and focused on the words in the center of one page. "'Number four,'" he read aloud, "'Your new boyfriend arrives extremely late for your second date. When he offers unbelievable excuse after unbelievable excuse, which one would you prefer to be the truth?

'"A. He was stuck in a hostile agency's stronghold, trying to ferret out enemy secrets.

'"B. He was called into an emergency meeting at the Pentagon and asked to come up with a scientific solution for a pressing global catastrophe.

'"C. He was asked to use ancient magicks to guard the Gates of Hell and prevent the rise of a demon that could have given the world to an evil sorcerer.'"

He blinked at the last one, grimacing a bit as he looked up at Bobby. "_This_ is a quiz?" he asked. "Who the Hell wrote it? An ex-girlfriend of one of the Avengers?"

Bobby shrugged, his right shoulder rubbing against Sam's as he did. "Who knows?" he asked no one in particular. "It's kind of funny though. Take a look at the title."

Sam squinted again, this time towards the top of the page. "'What Kind of Hero Would You Be Happy Dating?'" he read, shaking his head before lowering the magazine back across his and Bobby's laps. "That's not funny," he said. "That's stupid. Like someone's really going to carry this quiz around and use it as a guide for who they should fall in love with?"

Bobby pressed in closer, his face close enough that Sam could smell lingering traces of the Pacific on his skin. The battle with the Acolytes had taken them out over the ocean and Bobby had made good use of the availability of all that water. "You're not supposed to take it seriously," he said. "I think you're just supposed to take it, laugh at the results and throw it away." He laid his hand on Sam's shoulder and Sam could feel cold air on his cheek. "Didn't your sisters ever used to do these things? Jeanie…" He stopped and Sam felt the fingers on his shoulder tighten before he continued. "Most girls I knew growing up loved them. They'd even walk around and try to get other people to take them too."

Sam had a sudden flash of a teenage Jean Grey stalking her fellow X-Men around the mansion, cornering them with her telekinesis until they told her what their idea of a dream date was. He closed the shiny pages and put the issue aside. "These magazines are expensive," he said. "Paige might have started reading them after she enrolled at the Massachusetts Academy, but Mama would have had a fit if she'd caught her bringing one into the house while she was still living at home."

"Oh," Bobby said. "Well, _I_ thought it was funny…but if you don't want to…" He shrugged and Sam felt the movement more than saw it. "I just…" He shrugged again and shook his head. "Never mind. It was silly. Just me being bored more than anything."

Sam leaned back in his seat and turned his face towards Bobby. His lover had shifted so he was facing forward but his face was still close enough for Sam to kiss. He considered it, even though he knew he might be letting them both in for some teasing if he did. He considered it and he also considered reaching up and shutting off the small lights above their seats, of taking a chance on Bobby saying yes and on the more sensitive mutants on the plane not realizing what they were doing as the team plane sped through the night.

He'd never realized it before he'd started sleeping with Bobby, but making out on the Blackbird after a mission wasn't generally accepted as appropriate X-behavior. He could accept why that was, why it could be seen as the superhero equivalent of getting caught with your hand up a cheerleader's skirt on the school bus coming back from an away game—or in his and Bobby's case, down a wide receiver's briefs—but still, he was surprised by how often he found himself tempted. He thought by now he'd be used to how much a battle could rile up a body's hormones, could make a body restless.

_I guess not,_ he thought, as he looked out the window once more.

He gasped as he felt Bobby's hand slide across his lap. Skimming along the top of his legs, right past his crotch. And over to the side of the seat where Sam had stuck the magazine.

Sam sighed as Bobby pulled it out and started flipping again. He turned back to the window again.

A minute or two later, and he was aware of somebody staring at the back of his head. He decided to ignore it until he heard Bobby muttering something under his breath.

He shifted back towards the center of the compartment. "What?" he asked, trying his best not to sound irritated.

Bobby frowned at him, the magazine still in his hands. "I said, you're in a weird mood. You're not usually this edgy after a mission."

Sam exhaled, trying to let out what he wanted to say along with the air. It wouldn't do to say, "I don't usually want to fuck you this bad," with a man who could hear the proverbial pin drop at a thousand paces sitting only a few seats away. "I know," he said instead. "I'm sorry. I'm just still all riled up and got nowhere to go with it."

"Your adrenaline's still pumping?" Bobby asked and Sam made himself nod affirmatively to the partial truth. Bobby whistled softly. "That sucks," he said. "I'd offer you one of my tricks for dealing with it, but I think the others would start worrying if you started doing things like sliding whoopee cushions under the people who are sleeping."

Sam grinned, thinking about the many team members who were doing just that. Nightcrawler in particular had the tendency to pop up like a scalded cat when something disturbed his sleep, a sight that could and had set everyone on the plane falling down in tears of laughter. Sam knew it wasn't nice, but he couldn't help remembering how funny it had been. By the look on Bobby's face, he guessed the other man was picturing the exact same thing.

He let the grin and the image fade as he leaned back and continued to watch his lover. "You haven't done anything like that in awhile though," he said, thinking back over the last several months. "Not since you rejoined the team this last time."

Bobby shrugged. "I guess I found other ways of dealing with it." He returned his attention to the magazine. "Or finally got used to it. Take your pick."

_I'll take option A_ Sam thought to himself, envisioning how he and Bobby could "deal with it." Both on the plane and in the room they shared back at Xavier's.

He shook his head and forced his mind to focus on something else. "What are you reading?" he asked Bobby.

"The answers to that quiz. I wanted to see where answering all As, all Bs, or all Cs would get you."

"Let me guess," Sam said. He might not have ever taken a magazine quiz before, but he could guess just from what he had read where the quiz might take someone. "Your three options are international spy, world-renowned scientist, and sorcerer supreme."

Bobby smirked at him over the pages. "Yeah, and pretty much in those words exactly too." He flipped the magazine closed and set it down. "So…Nick Fury, Reed Richards, and Dr. Strange. I guess if you fall for someone else, or someone who isn't just like one of them, you're not dating an acceptable category of hero."

Sam snorted. "Like I asked, who wrote this quiz?"

Bobby turned so he was leaning into the seat, lying on his side facing Sam. "And like I said, who knows? Whoever they are, they probably have this overly dramatic idea of what it's like to be a, quote-unquote, hero."

Sam pushed himself onto his own side. "Yeah, it probably never occurs to them, all of the waiting and planning, the sitting and watching we have to do." He punched the cushion under his head. "Not to mention the wasted travel time."

Bobby pulled his arms underneath his own head. "Well, it's certainly not what they make movies about, is it?" he asked. " And if you look at those things, you can see that they also don't think you can have a perfectly normal upbringing and want to do this. I mean, how many of the guys on the screen are traumatized multi-millionaires, or aliens, or scientists who've accidentally mutated themselves…"

Sam lifted his head and grinned. "Says the mutant in the aisle seat."

Bobby grinned back. "Hey, at least I came by it honestly." He sat up a bit before resting his head in his hand. "Seriously though, people like you and me wouldn't even exist in that world. A non-alien farm boy and a kid from Long Island?" He huffed and lowered his head. "We're too boring. We'd be lucky if we were options YY and ZZ on that quiz."

"Yeah," Sam said. He started to nod his head, then reconsidered.

His mind flipped through the events of the last few years. "We're not exactly what you'd call normal though," he said. "Not what your average person would consider normal anyway."

"I know," Bobby said, still leaning back in his seat. "But that's mostly from contamination, I think. I mean…" He lifted one hand off the seat cushion and waved it around above him. "Look who we hang out with."

A snort from somewhere behind them told them what one of their non-sleeping teammates thought about that.

Bobby dropped his hand down dramatically. "No privacy on this plane," he said in a loud enough voice to carry several seats. A giggle further back confirmed his opinion and he stuck his head over the top of his seat to glare indiscriminately. "Anyway," he said, dropping back down on the seat, "the point is we're not weird enough to count. On the superhero scale, we are seriously lacking in the melodrama, my friend."

He pointed theatrically at Sam with the last few words and Sam had to bite back a grin.

Not to mention a groan.

It just had to figure, didn't it? Here he'd managed to forget all about his so-called "adrenaline problem," about how much he wanted to screw respectability among other things, and then Bobby had to go and start acting cute. It wasn't fair. It really wasn't.

He glanced at his watch, wondering how much longer it would be until they were home.

Fifteen digital seconds later, he decided he didn't care.

He allowed the grin to come out and play. "Oh, I don't know," he said, shifting forward across the seats. "I think we do pretty well for ourselves." He reached out and grabbed the hand Bobby still had extended, pulling himself even closer as he did. "I think we just produce the wrong kind of melodrama," he said, letting go of Bobby's hand and placing his fingers on Bobby's side.

If Bobby had any problems with his sudden loss of space, he didn't show it. "Really," he said, as calmly as if Sam was still over by the window and not pushing Bobby's jacket back off his bare torso. "And what kind of melodrama would that be?"

Sam placed his lips a breath away from Bobby's. "I'll tell you later," he said conversationally. "Too many people listening on this plane."

Bobby gave him a short nod, his eyes locked with Sam's. "Yeah, I know what you mean," he said before reaching up and closing the distance between them.

Sam told himself to be as quiet as he possibly could as they kissed. Told himself that he would not moan as Bobby's mouth opened underneath his, that he wouldn't gasp as their bodies brushed over and against each other. That he wouldn't groan as he straddled one of Bobby's legs and felt Bobby's thigh press up into his erection. That he wouldn't make it totally obvious to everyone on the plane that they were moments away from breaking the Cardinal Rules of the Field Trip, known to anyone who'd ever gone to a regular high school as well as anyone who'd gone to a not-so-regular one.

Not that he was capable of quoting those rules to anyone right now…

_Thou shalt not make out on the school bus_, intoned a voice in Sam's head, stopping him practically in mid-kiss. At first he thought it was a flashing memory or something out of his subconscious.

Then, when its "presence" failed to dissipate after a heartbeat or two, he began to realize whose voice it was.

After all, it had dripped with the sort of telepathic condescension only one person could effectively manage.

He lifted his mouth off of Bobby's and saw by the expression on Bobby's face, he'd heard it too. "Jesus, Emma," Bobby whispered. "Jealous much? Just because Scott's flying the plane…"

_We wouldn't be making out like horny teenagers in plain view of anyone who wants to look_ she replied, the response obviously targeted for both their heads. _Really, you have no idea of what some of the others are thinking right now. It would have served you both right if I'd allowed you to continue and let you suffer the ribbing you both so richly deserve._

Sam told himself to take a deep breath. And to lift himself off and move away. Which he did. As happily as he could anyway.

It was only vaguely gratifying to hear the way Bobby sighed when he moved away.

_Much better_ Emma's "voice" said, as Sam turned back towards the window and tried not to think too hard about spiking certain blonde women's hair dye. _Make certain you stay that way for the next thirteen minutes and we'll all be happy._

Sam looked at his watch again. _Thirteen…?_

_Yes, thirteen._ Emma's voice practically cooed, Sam thought. _You can wait that long, can't you?_

Sam chose not to answer as the "presence" disappeared.

He lay there for a minute and stared at the compartment ceiling. He stared hard. Stared like the ceiling itself was responsible for the painful frustration he was currently enduring.

Then he realized that the person next to him was chuckling.

He turned and stared at Bobby.

Bobby turned and smirked at him. "What was that you were saying about melodrama?" he asked.

Sam kept on staring.

For another five whole seconds before he started laughing.

And continued to laugh on and off with Bobby practically the entire time it took them to get home. One would stop, look over at the other, and then start up again.

Amazingly enough, when they finally disembarked, Emma was the only one frowning at them. Everyone else on the plane seemed to choose to ignore the situation.

It's not like it was anything out of the ordinary, after all.

Fin.


End file.
